What is it?
The seven eighteen. Not seven one eight, apparently. But, then, after 20 years (twenty, not two zero), will we notice? Or will we just keep calling it Boxster?
I’ll tell you something we’ll notice. Three numbers might have been added to Porsche’s roadster’s name, but rather more significant is that two things have been deleted: engine cylinders. Gasp. The old flat six, that glorious, high-revving, naturally aspirated thing of wonder, is no more. At least, not except in GT variants, where it might still crop up. It’s the usual story: downsizing and artificial blowing is in, revving and swept capacity are out.
This is the first Porsche fitted with a flat four, then, since the 914, and even though it’s downsized from 3.4 litres, the Boxster S's is a relatively big unit for a four-pot. Its 2.5 litres puts each cylinder at 624cc, rather larger than the half-litre-per cylinder which most manufacturers perceive as ‘about right’; and as Porsche does in the 2.0-litre, non-S, 718 Boxster, and its new turbocharged six-pot 3.0 911s.
The increased reciprocating masses and the imbalance that comes with them, then, might explain why there are now two, not one, hydraulic engine mounts at the front of the engine. It fires to life – through a sports exhaust on our test car – with an idly woofle that’s not unlike a potent Subaru or even a mild version of my own, large of ‘zorst 1973 VW Baja bug. Given all are flat-four units with unequal length exhaust headers, I don’t suppose it should be a surprise that any of them have similarities. Whether the comparisons are complimentary, though, is another matter entirely. We’ll come back to it.
Other changes, meanwhile, are both less significant and less easy to notice. The design is modestly changed: every body panel bar the rear deck – and even then its high-level brake light is modified – has been changed. The front suspension is mostly borrowed from the Porsche 911 Turbo (big ‘T’ turbocharged Turbo, not little ‘t’ turbocharged Carrera), which means the Boxster’s steering is about 10% sharper than it was. The rear suspension now contains elements of Cayman GT4, most notably to increase its lateral stiffness.
There’s also the option, for the first time on the Boxster S and fitted to our test car, of PASM adaptive suspension, which sits 20mm lower than standard. Our test 718 also wore carbon-ceramic brakes, while retaining a six-speed manual gearbox. It was about as racy a specification as you could imagine from a regular Boxster, in fact. All the better to distract you with? You might wonder.
Join the debate
Add your comment
Autocar wrote: Given all are
Unless I mistaken, this is still a British magazine/website. I think someone has been watching too many episodes of Fast 'N' Loud or some other American TV series.
They are manifolds, not headers. You will be calling it it a Porscha next and having a comparison test with a Jagwar F-Type..
The new Porsche Turbo Flat Four
You're probably right about this iteration, but...
Except it didn't. Not right away. Back in 1997, road testers found themselves unimpressed with the complete lack of low- and midrange torque, the seats and interior and the shape of the early 2.5 Boxsters, and they felt it was too much of a watered-down affair. For all its foibles, road testers actually preferred the 4.5 litre TVR Chimaera - at which the accusation of being watered down couldn't possibly be leveled - in direct comparison tests. It took the subsequent 3.2S for the Boxster to make amends, then every subsequent version got better and better where competition got distracted, disappeared from the segment or disappeared at all.
The notion of the Boxster being all-conquering isn't actually that old, and there weren't any trade-offs with model changes until the very last generation that 'gained' electric power steering (at least, it got even better in other respects or so the road tests say, and the entry ticket had become pretty much unbeatable at £38K-ish...). The segment is by no means impenetrable, it took Porsche quite a bit of time to crack it and the pace at it seems to be losing its way by the sounds of it, is quite worrying.
The faux-pas Porsche has made is to widen the gap from the 911 (which is fair enough in itself...) but make the car both heavier and more expensive at the same time. Had the 718 started at £35K and 1,200 kg, I bet we'd all have been singing its praises even though something did have to give...